Casket lowering device



July l0, 1951 E, KAISER 2,5605450 GASKET LOWERING DEVICE Attorneys July l0, 1951 E. H. KAISER GASKET LOWERING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 6, 1947 INVENTOR.

Ernesf H- Ka/'ser Attorneys July 10, 1951 E. H. KAISER GASKET LOWERING DEVICE Filed vMay e, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 5.

FIG. 6'.

IN VEN TOR.

E mesi H. Kaiser BY l Aforneys Jly l0, 1951 E. H. KAISER cAsxET LowERING DEVICE 4 `Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR E rnesfl Kaiser Filed May 6, 1947 N .um

BY 5mg, @wlav, Mmm/M' Attorneys l I )Evlciiv ent in` the accompan'yin'gV iirawirgv in N l cu Y wm i0 eerieerefeeesle Range ianeed 35 endend- Iigyrel iswajplan f a cwaslgetlovgerin deably mounted in a bracket 3G which is riveted to the outer sleeve of the housing l. y nlelarsrtop` planjviewpi theieover. Qr mecha? f- Similar erangemeet ie. provided for the end nism; Fig. 3, a fragmentaryeleyational gf (W lisiv ntheend shaftatnthe oppositeend cf the governor shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a Verticai segctional'view, takenasi indicated at line -fi of Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a Vertical Sectional View, taken as indicated at line 519-5 `Of FigfiZFig. 6, a Vertical Nszecticnai i/ iew, taken wae at fFig. 2;` Fig'. '7, a'fra'gien ry y view, taken as indicated at 1in '7 l and Fig. 8, a V(sectional View, taken as indicated 8'-"8 f'Fi'gf'.

h go ferner' is` p ided in the upper leftnand a Viewed in Eig. 1. l In this postl a spec'i` g 347 is` pryid'edltc carry the gevernor". A ar 3 8. dorlespedine te thebevel gears 'ther/poete', has a rearwardly extending '38e which: is keyed to the shaft 30 and is' iq ot'fded Withra'tcne't ntches'b, to be en#V gagedv by' pins 39A whichv impaie the hub ofa' Wrin wheelA 40,*a'nd are urged inwardly by afbcw Spring M. The ratchet mechanism permits the Hafts i2 t'o be' turned manually to' tensiontlie n'castbearing f straps I without operating the governor. However, the governor prevents separate unwinding. The worm wheel 40 is in constant engagement with a worm shaft 42 which is antifrictionally journalled in the casting 31. The worm shaft 42 is provided at its upper end with a spur gear 43, which is in mesh with a spur gear 44 provided on the rotor 45.

The rotor is of conventional construction Vand has a pivotally mounted pair of y weights 46, which may move outwardly by centrifugal force and raise a brake drum 41 upwardly against the action of a compression spring 48 into contact with an annular braking member 49 which is secured to a plate 50. The plate 50 is held in position by screws 5 I and the braking member 49 is secured to the plate by means of adjustable bolts 52.

The braking drum 41 also has a circumferentially disposed braking surface 53, which is adapted to be engaged by a soft braking shoe 54, preferably made of felt, carried by an arm 55'which is pivotally mounted on the base, as indicated at 56, and is urged out of engagement with the brake drum by means of a spring 51. The brake 54 may be moved into contact with the brake drum by means`of a hand lever 5B which has a self-locking plate 59 journalled in the casting 31 and engaged by an adjustable set screw 60, A compression spring 6I is provided on the inner end of the shaft and is urged by a nut 62 into engagement with the inner face of the casting 31 so as to limit the outward axial movement of the hand lever 58.

In using the device, it is adjusted and placed so as to frame the grave. After the end housings have been locked by means of the pins 34, the winding shaft I2 may be wound up on the spools I4 by manual rotation. This is permitted by the ratchet on the worm wheel 40. The straps may be further tensioned by placing a crank on the upper end 63 of the worm shaft which is accessible to a hole 64 in the cover of the governor. At the burial services a casket, indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, is placed on the straps,

` and when the handle 58 is raised the brake 54 will permit the rotor to turn, because of the pressure of the worm Wheel 40 on the worm shaft 42. The speed of the rotor is controlled by adjustment of the brake surface 49, but the speed may be further reduced or stopped at any position by the hand lever 58.

` The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art. f Y

I claim:

l 1. A casket lowering device, comprising, four supporting corner posts, a pair of telescopically adjustable longitudinally disposed winding shafts antifrictionally journaled in said posts, a pair 'of telescopically adjustable tubular housing connecting the end posts, a pair'of telescopically adjustable end shafts within said tubular housings antifrictionally journaled in said end posts, bevel gears in each of said posts making a positive driving connection between said winding shafts and'end shafts, sad end shafts having a flexible universal-jointed portion to provide accommodapin members fixed at right angles to each other n the adjacent end of the end shaft, said shaft extending end having a pair of apertures loosely receiving said pin members.

2. A casket -lowering device as claimed in claim 1, in which the inner one of said telescopically adjustable end shafts has a slidable pin, spring means for urging said pin outwardly so that its outer end will engage the inner surface of the tion to small variations inthe level of the corouter one of said telescopically adjustable end vshafts for sliding longitudinally therealong, a

shoulder on said outer one against which said pin will strike so that the housing will be prevented from being over-extended, the outer ones of said end shafts having a longitudinal opening substantially larger in cross dimension than the cross .dimension of the stub shaft extending end,

to enable rotation of the end shaft and stub shaft when out of longitudinal alignment with each other.

3. In a casket lowering device, a corner post. a pair of telescopically adjustable tubular housings connected with said post, a pair of telescopically adjustable end shafts within said tubular housings, a bevel gear in said post, a shaft journaled in said post and on which shaft said bevel gear is fixed to rotate therewith, and a flexible joint connecting said shaft in the post with one of said end shafts for accommodating small variations in the level of the post, said flexible joint comprising a pair of laterally spaced pin members extending loosely through an end of said post shaft, said pin members being fixed in the outer one of said end shafts, said end of said post shaft being substantially smaller than the outer one of said end shaft to provide universal swinging movement therebetween.

4. A casket lowering device, comprising, four supporting corner posts, a pair of telescopically adjustable longitudinally disposed winding shafts antifrictionally journaled in said posts, a pair of telescopically adjustable tubular housings connecting the end posts, a pair of telescopically adjustable end shafts within said tubular housings anti-frictionally journaled in said end posts, bevel gears in each of said posts making a positive driving connection between said winding shafts and end shafts, said end'shafts having a flexible universal-jointed portion to provide accommodation to small variations in the level of the corner posts, theend housing having a nut secured in its end portion, the corner post having an apertured socket to receive said end portion of the' ERNEST H. KAISER.-

A i .REFERENCES -CITED "The following references are of record in the fl'lej'f this patent: Y

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Numberm Name l Date 828,342 Shuart Aug. 14,1906 1,109,538 Miller Septfl, 1914 .y 1,117,53'1 Wellman Nov. 1'1, 1914 `1,402,781 Maechler v r y Jan. 10,1922 L 1,826,898 ,j Rosenkranz Oct. 13,1931 ,Bgrlput'srcg-,Tf-fr-L 23' 1940 

